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It’s true that slavery obviously was a significant factor in the Civil War. It’s also true that the men who did the fighting on both sides didnt perceive themselves to be fighting over slavery, and wouldnt have fought if the leaders on either side framed it that way at the outset
For the northern soldier, it was a fight to preserve to Union. For the southern soldier, it was a fight to defend their homes. Shelby Foote tells a story of a confederate soldier captured by Yankees and asked why he’s fighting. “Because y’all are down here,” he said.
Robert E Lee’s reasons were much like that. After Sumpter, he knew the north would be marching into Virginia and blood would he shed on Virginia soil. He couldn’t bring himself to fight against his home and his family and his sons. He considered Virginia his “country.”
That’s how southerners saw things in those days. People didn’t identify themselves with the federal government as they do now. Your first loyalty was to your hometown.
None of this absolves anyone of the guilt of slavery, but it does call for a more nuanced and thoughtful approach to this subject. 600 thousand men died. An intelligent person doesn’t look for cartoonishly easy answers when approaching a subject such as this.
